The Salem Utah Stake is witnessing the blessing of inviting baptized Primary children to participate in stake conference through talks and music.
Stake conference is held twice each year. Its primary purpose “is to strengthen members’ faith in Jesus Christ,” states section 29.3.1 of the General Handbook. All are invited to attend the general session.
President Brian G. Mead, who serves as first counselor in the Salem Utah Stake presidency, said his stake has started to organize a mini Primary presentation in stake conference.
The annual Primary presentation or program brings joy and the spirit, and “we just wanted to bring that feeling into our stake conference,” he said in a June 24 post on the Primary Worldwide social media accounts.
President Mead said a Primary choir sings prelude as people enter the chapel for stake conference. During the meeting, two Primary children give short, one-to-two minute talks.
“It’s incredible to see what they do. It’s incredible to see what they share. It’s incredible to see the spirit that they bring in,” he said.
After those talks, the Primary choir sings a musical number “and it just ignites an incredible feeling into our stake conference. It brings that fun and that spirit of the Primary program into our stake conference,” President Mead said.
The Primary Worldwide social media post explained, “Children’s testimonies are nurtured as they participate in church meetings. When we hear children bear pure testimony and sing of the Savior, we likewise are brought closer to Him.”
General Handbook Section 29.2.1.4 says: “The bishopric selects speakers for sacrament meeting. Most often they invite ward members, including youth and children.”
Section 29.6 says, “Any baptized Church member may offer an opening or closing prayer.”
Primary General President Susan H. Porter told the Church News in June 2024 how her presidency pondered on how to help children know what it means to be a covenant child of God.
“We have looked at the meetings that we attend — starting with sacrament meetings and stake conferences — and we have asked ourselves the question, ‘What are we doing in this meeting to nourish everyone?’” President Porter said.
She said as more wards and stakes invite baptized children to participate, children will recognize that it isn’t just their parents’ meeting — the meeting is also for them.
In the February 2022 Friend to Friend, President Porter said, “We need their testimonies, their service, their strength. They have so much to give. And when they are baptized into the Church, they are official members, and we can count on them to serve and bless and lift all of us.”
Another post from Primary Worldwide showcased the Valiant-age children in one ward who have been co-leading the hymns in their ward for sacrament meeting. The post said, “As we invite baptized children to participate and serve in Jesus Christ’s Church, we can all be strengthened, edified and brought to feel His greater love.”
Sister Kathryn W. Godderidge, a member of the Primary general advisory council, recently wrote about hearing the testimony of a child in a meeting.
“As she spoke her simple, sincere words of love for Jesus Christ, the Spirit bore witness to my heart of not only the truthfulness of her words but also the love of Jesus Christ for me, personally,” Sister Godderidge said. “The sincere testimony of a child can allow the Holy Ghost to speak to us in uniquely powerful ways.”
